The hubris turns megalomanic as the President of the Most Powerful Nation on Earth grandly announces: "America can do whatever we set our mind to." The pattern falls into place. Bush the Senior had said years ago, "What We Say, Goes."

Grandiose rhetoric disguises the plain fallacy of the myth of 'making sacrifices to make the world a safer place', and 'standing up for our values abroad.' The counter-productive, valueless and hopelessly myopic American counter-terrorism policies only contribute to perpetuate America's war against an enemy it created and now helps sustain. It only serves to keep the vicious cycle of fear and hate going. Al Qaeda has already warned of reprisals. The paranoia of a foreign monster lying in wait for innocent American 'men women and children' does not give Americans any sense of security, nor do the drone strikes in Pakistan and American vows that 'the war has not ended' serve the interests of peace anywhere. The 'world becoming a safer place' is yet another rhetorical ploy to win an indefensibly weak case.

It is a case of an empire careening towards doom, screeching piquantly on its way down the hill. Its delusions of grandeur and its insistent hubris is more dangerous than any ragtag group of 'terrorists' hiding in the mountains of Pakistan. Frank Smecker writes of what terrifies him more than Al Qaeda,

"The most terrifying culture ever to exist... a culture that wholeheartedly and without question believes in the fantasy that it can continue to live on a finite planet while practising a way of life predicated on the assumption of infinite growth; a culture that will do anything within its means to reinforce this fantasy... And so when an empire attempts to send a message to other communities... a message that says- we need what you have and we will take it if you do not hand it over-, well, the message better be pretty convincing and ensure success... But what it does is also that it leaves an impression on those it hurts, and some people who are deeply hurt indeed reach a point of rage; and to foment rage and to show those who are left with nothing but these feelings of enmity and vengeance creates a 'death spiral.' It is fanaticism against fanaticism, a way of life versus another way of life, all dancing the same dance - a pas de deux of terror... it merely reveals that this culture has always been that monster we are attempting to fight."

The Rhetoric Of A Staggering Empire